News

HIGH HOPES FOR CHICKS BEING RAISED BY SINGLE PARENT

26th June 2006

After weeks of waiting, the eggs have hatched! Last month a pair of Hen Harriers set up home on National Trust moorlands in the Peak District and laid a clutch of eggs. Five Hen Harrier chicks hatched to the delight of the team who are monitoring the nest. The young birds have since been tagged and will also be fitted with radio-transmitters, so their progress can be tracked as they migrate from their nesting area in the Peak District, to their wintering grounds (photograph attached).

It is the male harrier that provides food to his mate for the chicks, taking numerous food deliveries each day to the nest. Unfortunately, the male harrier in this pair disappeared in early June, so the chicks are being raised by the female who is now a single parent. It is unusual for an adult hen harrier to disappear whilst breeding and this would normally result in the failure of a nest. However, during the tagging of the chicks, the young were weighed and measured and results indicated that they are healthy and are expected to fledge in the next week. It is exceptional for a lone female to persevere in these circumstances but hopes are now high that this determined bird will beat the odds and successfully raise a family.

What happened to the male is still being looked into and the partners are keen to hear from anyone with information about the state of the bird.

The round the clock watch was set up on the nest last month and is supported by the National Trust, English Nature and the RSPB, with support from the shooting tenant. Helen Armstrong, the protection team co-ordinator said: “We are thrilled that the harriers have had chicks and their arrival means it’s more important than ever that we maintain the round the clock watch on the nest.”

In the UK breeding of Hen Harriers is almost entirely restricted to heather moorlands, the quality of which has declined due to a combination of factors. In recent years the National Trust has been working with its tenants to restore areas of degraded moor in the Peak District and to create the moorland habitat that birds like Hen Harriers require. If successful, these chicks will be only the second family in the Peak District in the last 130 years.